New Adventures of Superman (1966 TV Series)
The New Adventures of Superman was the first TV series ever produced by Filmation Associates. It was extremely popular in its Saturday morning time slot and, despite having obviously been developed for young children, employed the services of several such DC Comics writers as George Kashdan. These adventures were the first time that Superman (Clark Kent), Lois Lane and Perry White had been seen in animated form since the ''Superman'' shorts of the 1940s. (Jimmy Olsen had originally been created for the radio series to give Superman someone to whom he could talk.) Production Design and animation Many of the character designs (later based upon the artwork of Superman artist Curt Swan in the show's third season) stayed true to their comic book counterparts; iconic shirt-rip shots and related transformations from Clark Kent into Superman were incorporated into almost every episode, and such lines as "Up, up, and '''away!"' and "This is a job ''for '''Superman!"' were also borrowed from comics and the old Superman radio show. In addition, this series marked the animation debut of Jimmy Olsen and classic Superman villains such as Lex Luthor, The Toyman, and Brainiac. Due to a limited budget, stock animation was often re-used for certain shots of Superman flying or switching identities, while character movement was often kept at a minimum. Casting Producer Lou Scheimer also recruited Clayton "Bud" Collyer and Joan Alexander, veterans of both the Superman radio series and the Max Fleischer Superman cartoons, for the voices of Clark Kent/Superman and Lois Lane respectively. For this series, Collyer returned to the same vocal technique he had perfected on the radio show to provide the voice of the Man Of Steel. While in the identity of Clark Kent, Collyer would keep his voice lighter while projecting a sense of weakness. But when the mild-mannered reporter would change into his true identity of Superman, Collyer's voice would deepen dramatically into a heroic baritone. Alexander departed after the first season and was replaced by Julie Bennett in later episodes. Controversy Despite its success, the series ignited the anger of a group calling itself Action for Children's Television, a grass-roots organization formed in 1968 which claimed that it was dedicated to improving the quality of television programming offered to children, due to Superman throwing punches and other action-related violence which the group found objectionable, but which in reality was doing its most to "stupidify down" television that was ostensibly aimed at children but had older viewers who were also interested in it. As a result, the series was soon cancelled, and future cartoons would not allow for such comic book violence. Superman subsequently appeared in ABC's long-running animated series Super Friends (1973), produced by Hanna-Barbera, whose rights to DC Comics characters were gradually transferred from Filmation. Episodes Season One (1966–1967) The series premiered on September 10, 1966 as a 30-minute program named ''The New Adventures of Superman. featuring two "Superman" segments with one "The Adventures of Superboy" short in between. "Superman" Segments "The Adventures of Superboy" Segments Robert "Bob" Hastings provided the character voices of both Superboy and the teenaged Clark Kent for all these segments. Season Two (1967-1968) With the second season the series was reformatted and renamed The Superman/Aquaman Hour of Adventure. It retained both "The New Adventures of Superman" and "The Adventures of Superboy" segments in addition to new "Aquaman" and "guest hero" segments. These segments were all narrated by Ted Knight. Season Three (1968-1969) With the third season the series was again reformatted and renamed The Batman/Superman Hour. It retained both "The New Adventures of Superman" and "The Adventures of Superboy" segments and replaced the "Aquaman" and "guest hero" segments with new "Batman" ones. Season Four (1968-1970) With the fourth season the series returned to its original name and aired only reruns of both "The New Adventures of Superman" and "The Adventures of Superboy" segments from the previous three seasons. Category:Filmation Adventures Category:Animated Series Category:1966